Seating is now available .  .  .

            As  the month of August moved toward it’s inevitable conclusion, so , too, did the lives of two of our members.  Edith Roberts, had staked out a regular location in our sanctuary where she and Mervin (“Hat”) Roberts, sometimes accompanied by other family members would sit.  From here, Hat would happily proclaim the parking lot to be full, although, until Edith’s funeral service, the sanctuary rarely was.  It was full on that day, just as it had been on the occasion of Walter Lynn’s service.  Shortly after Edith’s passing, Gino Origlia succumbed to a cardiac arrest.   As I write this, Gino’s service is pending, but I am sure that our pews would also be full for his service.  It strikes me as wonderful that so many people want to be present to celebrate these lives, to honor their memory and to support the remaining family.  But it also makes me want to ask the question “Does somebody have to die to fill our pews?”

            Wait a minute!  Somebody did die – and in his death he intended to be a stand in for us.  Because he died and rose again, our deaths, like the deaths of Walter, Edith and Gino need not be final, but be a passage to eternity in God’s presence. 

            Why would it be important that our pews be full?  After all, isn’t the work of ministering in Christ’s name something we do out in the world?  Certainly our work is in the world.  In fact, Christ asks us to be ín, but not of the world.  But that is no easy task and we need the strength we can gather from spending time in worship, being taught and challenged from God’s word, being prayed for by others on the same path, and drawing strength from  the presence of other believers to live the lives Christ calls us to live.   

            Gratitude is another reason our pews should be full.  Every day we move closer to the inevitable moment of  a last breath from this atmosphere.  Jesus referred to himself as the bread of life and left us a trail of bread crumbs that we might follow him to that first breath of the fresh air of eternity.  The gratitude that would cause us to take our place in a church pew for regular times of worship is a reasonable response. 

            Need (the church’s, not yours) also suggests that our pews should be full.  Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.  I take that to mean that the Church (capital “C”) will not be going away anytime soon.  But let’s face it – any local congregation and its ministry and witness in the community is just one generation away from extinction.  Because many of our pews are populated by folks who are living in the winter season of their lives, we need the presence, the energy, the ideas and the community connections of people from all living generations if we are to continue to serve in this place in the name of Christ. 

            How do we get out the invitations?  In the case of each of our two beloved church members who recently passed away, we shared a eulogy about the one we loved.  Their lives were not perfect, but because we loved them, we focused on positive memories.  But what if someone was perfect?  Wait a minute!  Someone was perfect and his name was Jesus.  This Jesus offered us his life as an example of how we should live and gives us the Holy Spirit to help us live as he did.  We are to be his living eulogy.  We are his hands and feet, his ears and eyes and, yes, his mouth.  With these mouths we are to speak the invitation to worship and serve in a community such as ours here at The First Baptist Church in Essex.

             I don’t believe in salvation by attendance.  In fact, I failed to graduate from Oklahoma Baptist University because I had one too many chapel cuts.   But I do believe that the Christian faith is meant to be lived in community.  Ours is not a Lone Ranger faith.   Seating is now available. 

Pastor Michael

 

 

 

Seating is now available .  .  .

            As  the month of August moved toward it’s inevitable conclusion, so , too, did the lives of two of our members.  Edith Roberts, had staked out a regular location in our sanctuary where she and Mervin (“Hat”) Roberts, sometimes accompanied by other family members would sit.  From here, Hat would happily proclaim the parking lot to be full, although, until Edith’s funeral service, the sanctuary rarely was.  It was full on that day, just as it had been on the occasion of Walter Lynn’s service.  Shortly after Edith’s passing, Gino Origlia succumbed to a cardiac arrest.   As I write this, Gino’s service is pending, but I am sure that our pews would also be full for his service.  It strikes me as wonderful that so many people want to be present to celebrate these lives, to honor their memory and to support the remaining family.  But it also makes me want to ask the question “Does somebody have to die to fill our pews?”

            Wait a minute!  Somebody did die – and in his death he intended to be a stand in for us.  Because he died and rose again, our deaths, like the deaths of Walter, Edith and Gino need not be final, but be a passage to eternity in God’s presence. 

            Why would it be important that our pews be full?  After all, isn’t the work of ministering in Christ’s name something we do out in the world?  Certainly our work is in the world.  In fact, Christ asks us to be ín, but not of the world.  But that is no easy task and we need the strength we can gather from spending time in worship, being taught and challenged from God’s word, being prayed for by others on the same path, and drawing strength from  the presence of other believers to live the lives Christ calls us to live.   

            Gratitude is another reason our pews should be full.  Every day we move closer to the inevitable moment of  a last breath from this atmosphere.  Jesus referred to himself as the bread of life and left us a trail of bread crumbs that we might follow him to that first breath of the fresh air of eternity.  The gratitude that would cause us to take our place in a church pew for regular times of worship is a reasonable response. 

            Need (the church’s, not yours) also suggests that our pews should be full.  Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.  I take that to mean that the Church (capital “C”) will not be going away anytime soon.  But let’s face it – any local congregation and its ministry and witness in the community is just one generation away from extinction.  Because many of our pews are populated by folks who are living in the winter season of their lives, we need the presence, the energy, the ideas and the community connections of people from all living generations if we are to continue to serve in this place in the name of Christ. 

            How do we get out the invitations?  In the case of each of our two beloved church members who recently passed away, we shared a eulogy about the one we loved.  Their lives were not perfect, but because we loved them, we focused on positive memories.  But what if someone was perfect?  Wait a minute!  Someone was perfect and his name was Jesus.  This Jesus offered us his life as an example of how we should live and gives us the Holy Spirit to help us live as he did.  We are to be his living eulogy.  We are his hands and feet, his ears and eyes and, yes, his mouth.  With these mouths we are to speak the invitation to worship and serve in a community such as ours here at The First Baptist Church in Essex.

             I don’t believe in salvation by attendance.  In fact, I failed to graduate from Oklahoma Baptist University because I had one too many chapel cuts.   But I do believe that the Christian faith is meant to be lived in community.  Ours is not a Lone Ranger faith.   Seating is now available. 

Pastor Michael